Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-04-16


DRY. Her parents had moved to Moscow,
and thence, as he was informed, to Odessa,
from which port he had last sailed, with
cargo of grain for Falmouth for orders. AT
Odessa he made the most searching in
quiries, and learned that a family OF the
same name had gone to Alexandria about
six years previous. He had been, until our
present adventure, remarkably quiet and
diffident. He had told me that his diff
dence arose from the fact that he was al
most a woman-hater, and that he never ex
pected to be happy until he found his early
love. whom he last saw when she was IL
and he II years of age. His interest IN the
fair captive was doubtless aroused by the
fact that she strongly resembled his early
love.
The eventful night arrived. l gave a
supper at the hotel to allay any suspicion.
Supper was ordered for twenty, and was
served at eleven o'clock, which meant an
all-night spree Wine flowed freely, and
had its effect upon our friends. At twelve
o'clock, by a preconcerted arrangement, a
note was handed to me by servant. | pre-
tended that it had been sent by my second
officer and that it announced that my chief
officer had killed one of the crew. Apollo
giving for my sudden departure promised
to return as soon as possible and finish the
night. My friend, Captain H, in
sisted upon going with me. protested,
but he was obstinate. and finally, as the
company insisted that it was not safe to
go alone, we two separated in company.
We arrived at the gate in our usual APP
parently drunken condition, feed the guard
literally, and passed through. a few min
utes later we returned and had our cigars
and lanterns lighted, pretending that the
latter had been put accidentally. They
were so ready in assisting us that we gave
them another handful of piasters, and
made them understand that they were not
to allow any one to follow us. They earn
estly promised and we started again, our
hearts almost bursting with rapid pulsa-
ton. We found the cord; purse was at
the end of it. So far all was safe.
Running to the further gate as quickly
as possible, we repeated our former strategy
of brides, and the guards there promised
that while we were in the street nobody
should pass them. Thus we had the field
10 ourselves, with guards on either hand
to protect us from interference.
We returned to the spot where the purse
lay. 1t was readily discovered by reason
of its brilliancy, being worked in gold and
silver threads a stout cord was attached
to it. We pulled gently upon the cord,
and drew down ladder made of silk.
The night was dark, not a star visible
Thus far everything favored US. We put
strain upon the ladder with both our
weights, to keep it from swaying, when
suddenly we felt heavy burden upon it,
and in an instant man in white tunic
sprang from the ladder and seized me by
both arms, muttering something / could
not understand. Letting go his iron grip
upon me, he took the Captain in the same
manner. Then he sprang up the ladder
and disappeared.
could not have defended ourselves if &C.
casion required il. Treachery or not we
did not know, but we stood at our post
Presently We felt by the strain upon the
rope that some one was again descending.
This time it was the lady herself. She
sprang lightly to the ground, and a mo-
ment later came the man who had before
descended. He was her faithful slave. He
fell on his knees, begging to be taken with
us. But this was impossible. He was to
be relieved by another guard at 4 o'clock,
and his absence would have caused the
discovery of the escape. She advised him
to return, close the window, and let go the
rope. She would not be missed until noon,
when it would be impossible to know dur
ing whose watch she had made her escape.
mitted suicide, as she had frequently
threatened to do, and might have done by
throwing herself into the Bosporus
through trap in the floor of a boat house
near by.
She did not speak or evince any terror,
but trusted US entirely. AS we heard foot
steps rapidly approaching, and feared pur-
suit or meeting with street marauders, we
lost no time in reaching the gate. The
guard opened it Immediately. The word
American had a charm for them, es-
pecially as it was followed by a handful of
piasters thrown at them when the gate was
opened. 1 presumed they imagined we did
it in our drunken fun, but it was really to
draw their attention from our companion.
After we had passed through l locked the
were too busy picking up the money to
hee laundering at the gate after we had
gone. We did not reach our boats too
soon, for we could hear muttering voices
and tramping feet close behind Us. With
muffled oars we pulled for our friends
brig. We had proceeded not more than
fifty yards from the shore when we heard
our pursuers jumping into boats at the
landing. Who they were we could not tell,
but they had not the customary lights with
them to indicate that they were honest
citizens. The extreme darkness favored
our flight among the many vessels an
chored in the harbor, most of which had
their anchor lights up. My friends vessel
had two lights in the main rigging as a
private signal. These were put out as
soon as we reached the deck.
Entering the cabin, we again saw the
face of the lady. AS | have before said,
she was the most beautiful woman | had
ever seen. | could not help feeling that
my friend was not the handsome fellow
that deserved to be united to such lowell
ness-yet the gods mated Venice and Vul-
can. The Swedish Captain was speechless
with admiration. | acted as his embassa-
dor and informed her how desperately in
love he was, and that he was determined
to save her OF lose his life in the attempt.
She was now free to act for herself, but /
was sure that if she married him she would
have loving husband. AS | had been
concerned in her rescue from captivity, |
felt it my right as well as my duty to urge
her to accept him. She did not utter
word, but remained perfectly passive. ! ad-
vised him to leave the cabin and get his ship
under way at once. My boats crew would
assist him. The vessel must be outside the
harbor, l said, before daylight, and before
sunrise be well into the Sea of Marmora
And so we parted.
1t was o'clock when l reached my ship
Sleep was out of the question. The events
of the previous few days were like dream
out of which l had just awakened. The
consequences might have been serious to
me. But was always ready for advent
ures, and had been in many predicament
equally hazardous. l lived, as all young
sailors live, on romance and daring. The
excitement of this occasion was as exhila-
rating to me as champagne is to wine
bibber.
In the morning l was visited by several
of the Captains who had been my guests of
the night before. They had felt some fear
for our safety when they learned that con-
flict had taken place between the guard in
the street we passed through and band of
Greek robbers Two of the robbers had
been killed. These must have been our pur-
suers, who, after we had eluded them, had
returned and attacked the guard. They
were overpowered by company of soldiers
from the fort, who were making their
rounds to relieve the guard. Of course |
knew nothing of what had become of the
Swedish Captain. assured them that he
went safely on board and was to have
sailed at sunrise and that, as the wind was
fresh and fair, 1 supposed he was off.
| feigned an attack of rheumatism as an
excuse for not going ashore that day. The
| following day, our Consul hearing l wa:
sick, came on board. From him learned
| that one of the wives of the Pacha of the